Unknown
by EternalFluffy
Summary: Just who was Vaati? A wind sorcerer? An insane Minish? And why did he turn to evil? This is the slightly AU lifestory of the mysterious villain behind The Minish Cap.
1. The Abandoned One

Hilo there! Welcome to my first Zelda fanfic since those awful seventh-grade stories about young Link going into the past and meeting young, male, separate person Shiek who gets attacked by Ganondorf, stripped of the Triforce of Power, and shot in the eye. Then there were those ones about Impa and Nabooru being friends and poking fun at each other all the time. And don't forget the one where Link, Zelda, and Shiek go to Termina where they meet Kafei and his father who actually turn out to be Shiekah. My mind was messed up. Oh, wait, my mind is _still_ messed up.

So now I'm obsessed with Vaati. Took me a long time to get obsessed with him, though. I should've gotten myself obsessed a long time ago. I immediately liked him the first time I saw him (that was in the Minish Cap instruction manual). I've never been able to play the Four Swords games because I have no one to play them with. I had rented Minish Cap when it first came out and thought it was cute, but was too obsessed with other things at the time to care. Now, I finally bought it, and became completely obsessed with it. I haven't gotten this far into a GB Zelda game and not given up since Oracle of Ages.

Okay, now…about the story. I was especially interested in Vaati's background, and thought there should be more to it. I don't accept Ezlo's simple explanation that he was "enchanted by the evil in the hearts of men". He had to have had a better reason for turning evil. The relationship between Ezlo and Vaati also intrigued me. I took the dialogue to mean that Ezlo had found Vaati abandoned as a child in the wilderness somewhere and took him in. Ezlo was like a father to him… I felt like Ezlo should have been more concerned for him in the game. He knew he'd eventually have to kill his "son." These are some of the ideas behind this story.

Probably the most unusual thing about this story is the fact that Vaati isn't actually a Minish. In that respect, this story may be a bit AU. Actually, the truth is, I didn't get a close enough look at the Minish Vaati sprite during the flashback scene and thought he just looked like a little boy… It's also something that could be used as a device in this story (you'll see what I mean in later chapters), and at that time, I just didn't think Minish were cute, and didn't want Vaati to be one. I've since changed my mind, though.

Also, I've made up my own Minish language. It's not the "pico picori" gibberish from the game or the backwards Japanese from the manga (I wish I _knew_ Japanese, so I could write it backwards) Note that everything Ezlo, Vaati, and anything else the minish say is in Minish, but translated into English. Only a few important dialogue exchanges are written in Minish, with translations following them.

I made up some weird explanation of how Vaati was named, based on my made-up minish language. I really don't know if "Vaati" means anything. I know the "Fuu" in Gufuu means "seal".

Originally, I had Ezlo living in a cardboard box, which is just a funny tidbit of information.

_Italics_ stand for stressed words, thoughts, disembodied voices, onomatopoeia, and words in another language.

Review and give me inspiration! These author's notes were way too long…congrats on getting this far!

Oh, yeah, Vaati, Ezlo, and whatnot belong to Nintendo and Capcom. Almost forgot the darned disclaimer...

(-)

Prologue

_Why_? He always asked himself. Even now, approaching the final years of his life, he couldn't seem to find the answer. _Why? Why did everything have to end up this way? If you try to help, you'll just end up hurting it more…I know…I don't know if I did the right thing. This…this is all my fault_. From the outside, he may have looked like a bright and witty old man still reveling in the few years he had left on this planet…but only one other person had ever had a glimpse of the true anxiety within. No, scratch that, _two _other people.

(-)

As the revered sage loped along towards his now sorry-looking workshop, his spirit fell even more. Voices entered into his mind. A very familiar young shrieking in his own native tongue: _Ek_ _riiat a_! _Ek_ _riiat a_! You're a liar. _Reeu_ _aeu_! You lied to me. His tired old brown eyes fell upon an unused workbench. Abandoned shelves of books lay in waiting in their own dust. The building was deathly empty. The building was dying…just like him.

He gave a short cough and gripped tightly to his walking stick as he stepped over the threshold. Oh, well…it couldn't be that bad. The only problem was, when he died, everything that he had worked so hard for would be lost. There was nothing else now…right? He'd put too much stock in his past hopes…he'd always been the more trusting type. Why? How? What? The frail old thing couldn't take it anymore and seated himself on one of the dusty benches. Silently, a single tear slipped down his long, rounded nose.

In a corner of the room, a silken box began to sparkle. The disembodied voice floated deep from within it. There was no body anymore…as slowly, it had destroyed itself. _Please…stop this_.

The old creature lifted his head again, but the odd voice he heard seemed to be coming from both around him and inside of him at the same time.

_Do not blame yourself. I know you are, and I know you always have. Nothing is your fault. You have, as always, only wanted to help. I did as well._

He blinked, in confusion as well as fascination. And at that precise moment, a knock echoed from the front entrance where he had just been a moment before.

_Go… prove your point._

When he at last turned his head, an even bigger shock met him and it almost sent him into a spasm. A very familiar female stood there in the doorway, tugging nervously at her long, yellow ponytail.

_It is all up to you now. I shall leave this magical legacy in your hands. Good luck and farewell…_

(-)

Chapter 1: The Abandoned One

Ahhh…the air tasted just a little bit crisper, the world just a little bit more relaxing and oddly intriguing. It was essential at certain points to break away from civilized life, to get a taste of the true essence of the earth and its potential. In his profession, it was almost a tool that he had to utilize every time he embarked on a new project. Today, he had no particular goal in mind, but it was still enjoyable to wander aimlessly through the tall blades of grass that licked the sky and obscured some of his vision.

The wise old magician and craftsman, Ezlo slipped among this intriguing and mysterious world, his long olive-green cape and green rope brushing the dirt. It was a bit nippy this afternoon. His white hair and beard rippled with the light, refreshing breeze, along with the oddly curled tuft of hair sitting on the top of his head.

A gnarled walking stick shaped with the head of a bird at the end tapped its way forward in his hand. It wasn't necessarily to help him keep his balance. Hopefully, he wouldn't be getting that old yet… Mostly, he used it to perform minor magical remedies, such as to find a lost item, stop a crime, or even heal small injuries. He carried it with him everywhere.

Ezlo was the premier authority in the minish world on magic and its uses. He had created several fantastical items in his town-border workshop to improve minish life, such as the coldbox, which could keep food items cold and fresh, and the leaf-stitch, which made clothes. He was praised by the entire minish race, and many even thought he might be a descendant of the original minish who created the light force to guide and protect the people of Hyrule from the evils of the world. There was no one more in tune with the very earth than Ezlo—he freely traversed the thick barrier between minish and human realities, and he often modeled his creations after their electrical human equivalents.

Humans, as it seemed, had long since lost their ability to channel and control the essences of the earth. It was a shame, really. Then, they probably wouldn't have needed the minish aid. There were some in each minish community who believed that the humans were undeserving of the lavish mystical aid bestowed upon them, but the vast majority was much more sympathetic.

On this fine day, none of this was on old Ezlo's mind. He emptied his mind and allowed the enchantment and mystique of the world to fill him up.

"Aaaaaaaugh…"

Light streamed gently down, filtered through the wavering grass blades. The beams fell upon Ezlo's face, and he closed his eyes to feel the extent of their warmth.

"Aaaaaaaugh…"

He could feel the mystic essences of the world tingling over his skin, and his curved hand trembled around the staff it clutched. One more deep breath and he moved away, continuing on his pleasant stroll to nowhere. Maybe he'd be able to make some progress on his special water transporter once he returned to the workshop…

"Aaaaaaaugh…"

…What _was _that awful noise?

Ezlo stopped for a moment and craned his neck up to listen more closely to the oddly reverberating echo. It was a voice…a high-pitched, very soft voice. Someone was calling, quietly.

At first, the old magic craftsman began to turn his long-eared head. It was probably just a few young minish playing an interesting game of feather tag. But the more he listened, the more he began to convince himself that it wasn't just ordinary children. It was a child, sure enough now, but that child wasn't calling out or laughing in delight—it was crying.

Immediately, the old sage broke into a decided walk. This soft child could be only throwing a tantrum or be already taken care of, but he just couldn't allow himself to leave the area without knowing for sure.

His long, heightened minish ears allowed him to pinpoint the location of the soft sobbing noise. It grew bit by bit, louder and clearer as he drew closer, but was still remarkably quiet, especially for a young child such as he suspected it was. Perhaps it was unsure of itself…maybe it had gotten lost in the woods. Ezlo was so intent on finding this poor lost child that he didn't even notice when the ground below him changed into a soft and silken blue.

_It should be right…here…_ he thought, pushing aside a few stray blades of grass. Even his old, experienced system couldn't suppress the sharp gasp that escaped his lungs.

Lying between the blades on an unusual cushion of the same cloth he walked on, was a small child, no older than three. The shocking facts struck him one by one. The child had no clothes, and even stranger was the fact that his skin was entirely death-white. At first glance, he looked dead…but he soon began crying again, and pressing a tiny hand to his face. A stream of blood trickled out from beneath it.

"Oh, my Goddesses!" Ezlo burst out in worry. "You're wounded! Please, let me help you!"

As the old sage rushed forward to the little boy's side, the boy glanced up for a minute at him with a wide, innocent red eye. Wait, red eye? Maybe it was just a misconception; there was a lot of blood on his face…

With a quick rapping of his Great Deku Bird Staff, or the previously detailed walking stick, Ezlo conjured a light blue blanket, which he wrapped around the boy's body, quick as a wink. The poor little thing seemed bruised and slashed in several places all over his pale body. He wondered what could have happened to him. He reached towards the boy's face, but he immediately shrank from his touch, unsure of what this old man would do to him. He gave a high cry of alarm.

"Shh, shh…" Ezlo comfortingly whispered. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. Now, just let me see that cheek…"

Slowly, the little boy began to relax, and Ezlo was finally able to lift his hand off the wounded spot on his face. The boy closed his left eye and winced a little as Ezlo cupped the cheek in his withered hand.

"…This is quite a deep cut. I won't be able to completely heal it, but I can at least help…"

He closed his eyes to concentrate and passed a hand over the slash. The little boy gave a short gasp of pain, but after, he smiled. The bleeding had stopped, and apparently, the pain it has caused him had ceased. His other eye opened, and he stared at his savior with wide, red eyes. Yes, those eyes were definitely and naturally red in color. How strange…yet, there wasn't any more time to ponder over it. That boy's wounds needed tending right now!

Gently, Ezlo swept the little boy up into his arms, holding him like a baby. He wasn't too heavy, so he could carry him all the way back to his workshop. Surprisingly, the little boy didn't squirm or protest at all. In fact, he snuggled closer into Ezlo's green robe, as if completely trusting him now.

It wasn't long before the two of them reached the old workshop, nestled comfortably within a gigantic stump. Ezlo quickly climbed the staircase to the second floor and deposited the boy's limp little body on the guest bed. He then proceeded to dress him and wrap bandages around the remaining cuts dotting his arms and legs. All the while, the boy only stared at him in mild interest and slight confusion. Gently, he lifted him back up and deposited him in the bed, wrapping the fluffy covers around his tiny body.

"You're going to have to keep watch on that cheek slash. Eventually, it will heal, but it might leave a scar…it's so painfully deep."

The little boy turned his innocent red eyes up towards him. He wondered, not for the first time, if he could understand anything he said. Probably not. Oh, well, best to start with the basics. He might have to teach the little boy to speak. "Ezlo," he recited, pressing a hand to his chest. "_Eku_ _tam _Ezlo." My name is Ezlo. "_Eka_ _tam_?" What's your name?

The boy only blinked. At last, his lips began to form around what looked to be some sort of word. "Pa…pa?"

Now, Ezlo was the one blinking in confusion. He had just spoken the human word "Papa"…meaning "father"…"_pridarg_". Ezlo shook his head of long, white hair. "_Kaan_. _Kri_ _eka eu pridarg_." No. I'm not your father. He hoped that the little boy at least understood the head shake.

At last, he began to nod his small, round white head to indicate his comprehension. Come to think of it, he had quite an unusual hair color…light purple-blue. He couldn't wait to see what his parents looked like.

"Ezlo," the elder minish repeated, pressing his hand to his chest again. "Ezlo."

"E…eh…Ezlo…" the boy fingered his way around the pronunciation. For some strange reason, it seemed like the first time he'd ever spoken Cricriim Minish…or any Minish for that matter.

The more the wise old Ezlo stared at his mysterious little boarder, the more the fact began to dawn on him. He was the correct size…but not the correct shape. His nose was rather small and stuck out separately from his face structure. Just from handling him earlier, he hadn't seen any stubs of a tail…not even a small sash extension, like the Gragraam Minish. His legs were not short and stubby, and his feet, if he remembered correctly, were small and delicate. The first thing he'd said had been a word in Human—the "Hylian" language. Was this…a human child? But how did it get to be minish-sized? A cross-breed? Was that even possible? He didn't want to think about it.

Ezlo decided that whatever he was, he had to protect him until his family came for him. Briefly, he wondered what had happened to the poor boy to leave him naked and so badly wounded in the middle of the town byways. It didn't matter anyway. He had to take care of him now.

"_Eku_ _tam_ Ezlo," Ezlo repeated again. "_Eku_ _tam _Ezlo. _Eka_ _tam_?"

"Eh…Ek…" Once again, the little boy struggled to wrap his mouth around the Cricriim syllables. "Ek…_Eku_…_tam_…" He pointed to himself. "_E-Eku tam_…? _Eku_ _tam_…?" He…he didn't know his own name? Was he asking _him_ what his name was? Even more unusual…

Sadly, Ezlo shook his wizened head. "_Ek_ _pricii u_." I'm sorry. "_Kri_ _fli kama u_." I don't know. "_Eka_ _vaati ue tam_." Your name is unknown to me.

The boy blinked, confusedly. "V…Va…_Vaati_? _Eku_ _tam_…_vaati_?"

Ezlo berated himself for using such complicated words that the boy would not understand, but he seemed to be catching on very quickly. Resignedly, Ezlo nodded. "_Eka tam vaati_." Your name is unknown.

With that, the boy nodded and a tiny sliver of a smile spread over his pale face. Ezlo was once again sent into a confused stare. How was finding out that you didn't have a name a good thing? He expected the boy to continue questioning him, as young minds are always the most inquisitive, but strangely enough, the boy seemed completely satisfied.

"_Ek_ _faafu ti pla takriin_," Ezlo decided. That's enough for tonight. "_Dihia_ _saanna a_." You need your rest.

When the old sage picked up the covers surrounding him, the boy realized that he was being tucked in and lied back down in compliance. Ezlo smiled and gently fitted the sheets around his body. He turned to snatch a bird-shaped pillow from one of the room's shelves, and held it out to him. Though it barely qualified as a stuffed animal, since its design was so simplistic, the boy seemed delighted nonetheless. He squeezed the blue bird and brought it close to his chest. The appalling paleness of his arms really stood out against the dark blue fabric on the bird. Ezlo seriously hoped that this was just a natural part of his genetic makeup—albinism or a similar condition and not some horrible disease. He would hate to see such a sweet boy suffer.

"_Aama_ _kriin_," Ezlo told him, stopping to give him a pat on the head before turning to exit this guest room once again. Good night.

He stopped mid-step when a soft, chirping voice flitted to his ears. "Ah…ah…_A-Aama kri-kriin_, Ezlo."

The old minish magician hadn't smiled so much since he'd finished his first invention.

(-)

Bright sunlight filtered hopefully through the miniscule windows carved out of the side of the stump and fitted with glass shards and curtains. They fell over the gnarled, wooden furniture, long tables, bookshelves, and glass jars. A lonely down quill sat in its inkwell atop one of the furthest workbenches. It was hardly used anymore, since its owner preferred outside research nowadays. Joyful voices chattered to each other in the squeaking accents of Cricriim Minish, interrupted by the occasional booming chirrup of a morning bird.

Ezlo sat peacefully at his small, personal work desk, doing something rather unusual and foreign to him—sewing. It was amazing that he even remembered how to hand sew; he'd been using his own patented "leaf-stitch" device for years. This task, however, he thought best to perform manually, since it would have that special, personal touch. He smiled gently through his whiskers and held the piece of clothing out to get a good look at it. It was a robe, much similar to his own, but in a dark blue color. Small triangles and swirling symbols dotted each side of it—a few decorative touches that he had tacked on. It was also very, very small.

Ezlo chuckled to himself as he brought the little robe back onto his lap to continue sewing the hem. Strange…all his life, he'd never wanted to get married or have any kids. They'd only hold him back from his potential, he'd reasoned. They'd be an extra liability. Yet the arrival of this mysterious child had brought out a parental instinct in him that he hadn't known was there. Maybe children weren't such disasters after all.

With that thought, he turned his long, round nose out towards the staircase that led up to the second floor bedrooms. How come the little boy hadn't woken up yet? With all the racket those birds were making, he thought for sure he would've been jarred out of slumber by now. Gently folding the incomplete garment and setting it aside on one of the long workbenches, Ezlo got back to his feet. Goodness, he was becoming an overprotective father already. A horrible thought had struck him. What if the boy had already died in his sleep? He had sustained quite a lot of serious injuries…maybe it was just too much for his young and delicate body to handle.

The old minish sprang into action, clawing his way across the floor and clambering up the wooden steps. Well, at least this way, he would've died peacefully in his sleep. Still, the thought rattled him and an icy dread was freezing his veins. He just had to find out…! With a frantic bang, Ezlo flung the wooden door open, panting with the exertion of the speed stair-climbing. "Huh…uh…ah…"

Two large red eyes stared back at him from the bed in the middle of the room. They blinked and tilted sideways with the small, pallid visage accenting it. He couldn't speak much yet, but his face did most of the speaking for him. "What the heck is wrong with you?" it asked.

"Huh…huh…" Ezlo panted, desperately trying to form syllables with his gathering breath.

The boy's bandaged face broke into a cheerful little smile. "Ezlo!" he cried, recognizing his new surrogate father.

Ezlo smiled back, through the pain in his chest, and struggled into an upright position. "_A-Aama chisin_…_pik_ _gamas_," he finally succeeded in greeting. Good morning, little boy.

"Ah…_Aama_ ch…chee…cheese…_chisin_?" The boy hesitantly repeated the sentence. "_A-Aama chisin_, Ezlo!" He brought a small, stubby white finger up to his mouth and stared in confusion. "…_P-Pik ga_…_gamas_?"

Ezlo nodded, seating himself on the end of the boy's bed. He wondered for a moment why, if he had been awake all this time, he hadn't gotten out of bed or made his way downstairs. Maybe he wasn't able to walk…or maybe he was still too tired and weak. He smiled and nodded, helping the boy learn more of the Cricriim Minish language. He had a mind like a sponge. "_Ii_. _Ek_ _ae pik gamas_." Yes. You are a little boy. He rested a hand on his tiny shoulder, over which his loose toga-like wrappings fell. "_Pik_ _gamas_," he clarified.

The boy's eyebrows furrowed. He raised a skeptical eyebrow to his caretaker. "_Eku_ _tam vaati_," he repeated, from the day before. My name is unknown. Maybe he thought "pik gamas" was supposed to be his name.

"_Ii_," Ezlo agreed, "_Ca ek tehn ae pik gamas_." Yes, but you're still a little boy.

The boy shook his head rather violently in disagreement. "_Vaati_," he insisted, jabbing his little hand at his chest. "_Eku_ _tam vaati_!" Ezlo…Ezlo…" It looked as if he wanted to add something to that, but he didn't know how to say it. The words weren't in his vocabulary. He knew what he meant, but not how to express it. Frustratingly, he sighed and let his small arms drop back to his sides. The bird-shaped pillow came into contact with them, and he scooped it up into his short arms again.

Ezlo stared into the boy's eyes for a moment, trying to arrive at some sort of understanding. Why was he so insistent upon not having a name? He had to call him _something_. He couldn't keep calling him "_pik_ _gamas_" forever. He wouldn't _be _a _pik_ _gamas_ forever.

The more he pondered over his words, the more it began to dawn on him. He chuckled a little behind his long whiskers. The boy glared back ay him from behind his blue birdie. It was as if he thought he was being incredibly rude. The young boy couldn't possibly understand the real meaning of the word "_vaati_"… He thought "_Vaati_" was his name!

Ezlo shook his head and attempted to explain it to him. "_Kri_ _eka tam _"Vaati," he tried to tell him. Your name's not "Vaati". "_Eka_ _tam vaati, ca kri eka tam_ "Vaati."

Now, the poor little boy looked even more completely confounded than he had before. His brows buried further into his forehead, and tiny droplets of tears began to form under his eyes from all his internal frustration. Who the heck _was_ he already?!

Ezlo sighed in defeat, much like the boy had done just a minute earlier. It was hopeless to try to explain it to him at such a young and oblivious age. He wished he'd never accidentally used such a complicated word on him. That was it, he'd have to call him "Vaati" until he learned more of the language and could understand him better. At least he'd respond to it.

"_Aama_ _chisin_, Vaati," he relinquished.

The little boy's face lit up once again, and the tentative tears disappeared. He set the bluebird pillow aside, revealing his whole face again, which contained a thankful smile. "_Aama_ _chisin_, Ezlo!"

(-)

Ezlo arrived triumphantly back into the guest bedroom upstairs. His store cellar had contained exactly what he had been looking for, and he was more than a little pleased with himself. "Well, here you go!" he called cheerfully in bright, chirpy Cricriim. "Breakfast is here!" He bounded over to little Vaati's side and plopped a ripe blueberry into his lap in satisfaction. The thing was huge next to him, and he struggled to grip it in his tiny, weak hands. His red eyes flickered over its round sides with an inquisitive sparkle to them.

"It's a blueberry," Ezlo informed him. "_Froosia_. _Ek_ _y froosia_."

"F…frroo…_froosia_," Vaati obediently repeated, fingering the edges of the fruit in wonderment.

Ezlo wondered whether the boy even realized that it was food. He probably though it was a new toy—a giant blue ball of sorts. "You eat it," Ezlo explained, in words. "Like this!" He seized the blueberry from the boy's hands, much to his surprise and confusion, and bit into it. A little spurt of its blue juices flung out, sticking to his beard. Little Vaati burst into giggles at the sight. Ezlo smiled as he chewed and handed the blueberry back to its owner. "Here. Now you try."

The boy didn't understand a word of what he said, but he understood what he was supposed to do now. With a delighted smile, he took a big bite out of the other side and chuckled through a mouthful of blueberry when it squirted him.

"Have fun," Ezlo offered as he moved to exit the door. He could always clean up the mess with a quick application of his own patented stain-dissolver solution. Vaati, of course, didn't understand, but continued to amuse himself with the blueberry just the same.

Ezlo stepped lightly back downstairs, smiling with unusual inner happiness. Now…back to work on that robe hem! He worked with renewed energy and finished the hem, with enough time to add a pair of shorts and stitch a standard floppy hat out of the leftover material. After all, no young minish was complete without a curling hat to match his outfit.

Ezlo sat the ensemble out on one of his experimental dummies and nearly burst into laughter. Look at what he had become—a tailor! It was certainly a profession he'd never aspired to succeed in. All because of a small abandoned child. Ezlo nodded to himself in understanding. This small, abandoned child would probably have more to teach him than his entire library of world knowledge.

By the time he tiptoed back upstairs to the boy's new room, he had finished with the blueberry. Appropriately, the blueberry was only half-eaten, but all of it seemed to have been used. Ezlo folded the robe in his arms and set it aside, lest it become stained before the boy could even try it on.

Two gigantic red eyes lifted up towards him from behind the explosion of dark bluish goop. The dark streaks stood out in deep contrast against his pale skin, and they somehow reflected off of it. His skin's bluish tint had deepened somewhat, and if Ezlo didn't know better he would've guessed that he was choking.

Almost immediately, little Vaati backed off, and his long ears flattened against the sides of his head in shame. He expected a scolding, Ezlo deduced, meaning he must have been scolded sometime before in his life. _There's _the proof that he has parents. Maybe his parents abandoned him. What kind of cold-hearted monsters would do that to such a sweet little child?

Slowly, Vaati began to calm down as Ezlo spread his solution over the room, and didn't even squirm and protest when he rubbed it over his own body and face. In a matter of a few minutes, all of the blueberry stains vanished into thin air. Ezlo took the half-eaten fruit to the trash can and glanced behind him at the little boy marveling at his spotless white skin. Finally, when he returned, it was time to try his new creation out!

Ezlo felt a bit like he was performing one of his experiments as he dressed the child. He had never actually dressed a child before, or made clothes for one, so he was eager to test his craftsmanship with the fabric. As it turned out, the clothes were a little big on the boy, and the hat flopped down into his eyes. Oh, well, at least it gave him room to grow. Ezlo didn't really feel like sewing the boy an entirely new wardrobe every year. He picked the hat off and set it aside, assuring him, in words he surely couldn't understand, that he'd give it back to him once he grew and it fit correctly. He urged him to walk around for a bit and get used to the new clothes.

Thought Vaati picked awkwardly at them as he padded across the wooden floor, Ezlo couldn't help but feel proud of himself. The boy seemed fairly comfortable with the new clothes, and the dark blue color nicely complimented the unusual purple shade of his hair. He was just about to take the boy outside, when he noticed something.

As little Vaati walked back towards him, his eyes wandered down towards his feet. They fell with a gentle _plop-plop-plop_ across the hollow floor, instead of the usual loud tromping a young minish would make crossing his rickety upstairs.

Concerned, Ezlo instructed him to sit back down on the bed, where he then kneeled to get a closer look at these pitiful stubs of feet. Vaati looked down at him with large, confused eyes as he took one of his feet in his hand and lifted it up to examine it. The toes were just round, stubby little things with no grip to them at all. They were protected by hard nails, but that seemed appropriate, since everything on this foot seemed like it needed protection. The skin on the top was very thin and easily penetrable. Finally, Ezlo lifted the boy's foot a little more to run a finger over the bottom surface. Even this skin seemed unusually squishy and vulnerable. It was just as he'd feared. The boy would need shoes before he could step outside, and Ezlo had absolutely no experience with making shoes.

There was no need for shoes among the minish—their large prehensile feet were perfect for walking on rocky ground and gripping tightly to objects to keep them in place. Only a few Cricriim minish who worked for the humans knew anything about shoes.

Ezlo sighed and poked at the bottoms of Vaati's feet again, in exasperation. "You…your underdeveloped little body is going to cause me a lot of trouble."

The boy's body trembled slightly, and his hand went up in front of his mouth to cover a giggle.

Ezlo's face broke into a smile again. "You like that?" he joked. "Here's what you get for having vulnerable feet!" He tickled the bottoms of Vaati's feet again, and the boy squeaked with laughter, rolling backwards on his back. This torture was so much fun that Ezlo jumped up onto the bed to tickle the rest of him, and Vaati's laughter burst out of him again.

Both were quite tired when the game was over, and Ezlo eventually found himself lying on the bed, the little boy gripping one of his sleeves. He sighed with contentment and exhaustion. This was a good exhaustion—the kind you got after a hard day of play, and Ezlo thought, graciously, that this was only the beginning. He'd never be bored or completely relaxed again. He didn't want to move. If only time could freeze, he would've stayed right there for the rest of eternity. He'd have to start working on that.

At last, Ezlo pulled himself up with a great effort, and reluctantly slipped out of Vaati's grasp. The boy had apparently been just as exhausted and had fallen back to sleep. Ezlo produced a measuring tape, seemingly out of thin air. In truth, he'd only transported it into his hand from downstairs, but the effect was much more dramatic. He unrolled it a little bit and made measurements of the boy's feet. He'd need those if he wanted a pair of shoes ordered. For a moment, he wondered if the Cricriim shoemakers had ever received an order for minish-sized shoes. Oh, well, it could give them a good challenge.

Before leaving, Ezlo made sure to tuck a blanket around Vaati's curled-up little body and slipped his little bird friend next to him, just in case he woke up and was frightened to find him gone. Ezlo was surprised at how attentive and considerate he was getting.

Well…time to go place that order! Odd…for the past week or so, he'd been working diligently on a new device which could transport massive amounts of water and collect raindrops. It had become a slight obsession for him—all he'd thought about were ways to put it together and improve upon the ideas he came up with. But today, he hadn't spent one second even thinking about it. The project would have to be put on hold, and he didn't mind one bit. He has a "new project" to attend to.

Ezlo swiftly swept his sewing tools back into their proper drawers and picked up the Tree Communicator—one of his own creations—to contact the shoe shop. Just as he was about to enter the organic code, a sudden banging pulled his head upwards towards the entrance to his workshop.

A middle-aged minish had burst through the front door in a flurry of activity, and for a moment, Ezlo was too stunned to even reprimand him. "Er…uh…I would've preferred that you knock first," he managed to get out at last.

"Sorry…Master Ezlo," the man panted as he leaned against the door-casing. He turned his head up towards him and smiled nonetheless. "I just thought you might like to know…so you can get some before it's all gone…"

"Know what?" Ezlo asked in indignation. He set the communicator forcefully back into its base. "I have important things to do, you know, so you better have a good reason for barging in on my house like this…"

The man's smile didn't even wane. "Cloth!" he cried. "We've just discovered a ton of it, and it's not too far from here! It's like someone lost an entire outfit!"

Ezlo froze. This _was_ good news. Occasionally, in the town, people would lose handkerchiefs, hats, or even actual scraps of fabric, and the Cricriim minish would cut it up, divide it among themselves, and use it to make clothes, towels, and other such supplies. This happened even more infrequently in this suburb area, and for someone to lose an entire article of clothing was like a miracle. "Are you sure?" he immediately asked. "You've looked for the owner?"

The man nodded. "We've had scouts out searching all day. No one's come back to claim it, or even to look for it. In fact, no one's been this way at all! It's a mystery; we have no idea where all this cloth came from!"

Slowly, Ezlo's eyes widened, imagining the possibilities. He needed cloth for several of his projects, and with this much, he could stockpile it. He could make more clothes for little Vaati, and still have plenty left over to make him bigger sizes when he got older. Something about this prospect greatly excited him, and he wondered if he might've enjoyed a different life as a tailor. He was so engrossed in his own plans and daydreams that he didn't even hear the light _plop…plop…plop_ echoing from behind him.

"…This is great!" Ezlo finally exclaimed, snatching a sack off the desk. "Imagine the possibilities! Lead on, my good man!"

The minish man stood up straight as his smile widened. "That's what I thought you'd say. Hey…I didn't know you had a kid."

Ezlo froze again, a befuddled expression crossing his face. "Kid?"

"Ezlo!"

Ezlo whipped back around to see, to his utter shock, little Vaati standing next to him, stretching his stubby arms up towards him.

"Aaaaaugh!" Ezlo burst out. "Vaati! What are you doing down here?! You were just sleeping! Don't come down the stairs all by yourself like that! You could've tripped! You could've fallen down and cracked your head open! You almost gave me a heart attack! Don't scare me like that again!"

Vaati just laughed at his frantic expressions and gripped the bottom of his robe again.

"He's cute," the minish man commented. "No offence, but he doesn't look a thing like you."

"He's not mine," Ezlo explained. "I just found him injured in the woods and took him in. I've got to find his parents, actually." Now that the thought occurred to him, Ezlo actually felt a little disappointed. Vaati was like a lost dog found without an identification tag. He was beginning to grow attached to him, but he knew he wasn't his. He couldn't keep him. Well, he hopefully thought, maybe his parents would let him keep in touch and watch the boy grow up from afar. That was probably the best thing, anyway. He knew next to nothing about raising children.

"That's just like you," the minish man replied. "Such a big heart."

Ezlo turned back towards him and adjusted the sack over his shoulder. "Well, I'm ready."

The other minish nodded. "Okay, here we go!"

Together, they began to march out the workshop's doorway, until the same minish man turned around and frowned. "Uh…you've got a shadow," he informed his elder.

Ezlo frowned in confusion and turned back around. Little Vaati was running after him, bare feet plodding across the cold wooden floor. Ezlo sighed. Once the child had caught up, he bent down to place his large hands over his tiny shoulders and look sincerely into his face. "No, Vaati…you can't come with me. You haven't got your shoes yet; you'll scratch your feet all up. Just go back upstairs and go back to sleep for now, okay? I'll be back in a jiffy."

Vaati just blinked. Ezlo had no way of knowing if he understood, so he just settled for staring into his face for a steady minute before rising again to join his companion. Again, they made for the door.

"We got quite some lovely colors too…" the minish man began to jabber away. "Whites and blues and maroons…I know I haven't seen some of those colors since I took a trip up to the city. Got about a handful of harvesters already up there with carts…supply stores and tailors' apprentices. We even got a few brown things that look like boots. Really, it's like someone just stepped out of his clothes and is running around naked somewhere."

"Well, that wouldn't be too good," Ezlo admonished. "Though I'm sure that's not what happened…probably just clothes that didn't fit anymore, and they didn't know where to discard 'em. I love when that happens…"

_Plop-plop-plop-plop-plop_…

"Vaati!"

The little boy was so startled by Ezlo's sudden snap that he nearly toppled backwards onto his butt.

"What did I tell you? You can't follow me!"

A confused frown appeared on the boy's face, and his eyes widened slightly. Ezlo bent back down to his level and took a deep breath. He'd have to try to explain this in simpler terms.

"_Kaan_," he repeated, shaking his head. No. Gently, he tapped Vaati on the chest and then pointed back up the stairs. "_Fliig_ _hutoo a_." You go upstairs. "_Kaan_." Again, he pointed towards the stairs and back to the boy. "_Fliig_ _hutoo_..._a_."

Slowly, it looked as if the boy was beginning to understand. His face gradually fell, and small specks of tears were forming under his eyes. "…K-Kah…_Kaan_!" he suddenly burst out. "Ezlo!" In a tearful outburst, Vaati ran forward, seizing Ezlo's robe collar and pushing his face into it.

For a moment, Ezlo didn't know what to do and just knelt there, stunned. He hadn't known the boy would get _this_ attached to him so soon. Goodness, what would happen when he had to go back to his parents?

"Aww…" the minish man cooed. "He really doesn't want to leave you, huh?"

Ezlo took a deep breath and placed a hand over Vaati's shuddering little head. "I'm sorry, but could I ask you to wait outside the house? This might take awhile…"

(-)

"Phew…" Ezlo stood back and gazed downwards to get a view of his work. Well, it wasn't too bad for a half-fast, ill-researched job. Vaati shook his little foot, uncomfortably, but nothing came loose, thank the Goddesses. Ezlo hadn't factored in the issue of having a young boy who had probably never even worn shoes before. In that case, sandals were a good place to start.

He'd used his earlier measurements of Vaati's feet to cut up a sheet of foam to the appropriate size, and attached long pieces of thread and a ribbon band over it to hold them on. Both the foam and thread were shades of red, which clashed with his new blue robe, but strangely brought out his eyes.

"Okay, we're ready now!" he called out to his partner, who'd fallen asleep against the side of the stump. "Sorry it took so long!"

"Eh, what?" the man mumbled. "What took so long?"

"Nothing," Ezlo assuaged him. "Now lead on to this cloth-mine."

He held his hand back and felt incredibly like a father as another tiny hand grabbed one of his fingers. He swept it into his palm and held it tight. Then, slowly, he led his new child out into the daylight.

(-)

It was exactly how the man has described. A rippling sheet of fabric blanketed the ground for as far as the minish eye could see. It was sewn here and there, and some experienced tailors were ripping them out with rock-spears. Other minish were folding up pieces that had already been cut off and placing them in nearby wheelbarrows. Further along, the blue sheet ended and a speckled brown one began. Large lumps of fabric in the distance signified the shoes and additional articles of clothing that the guy had told him about. Their guide had gone off already to rejoin his group, receiving various complaints about the length of his absence.

Ezlo clutched Vaati's little hand tighter at the sight of the stone cutting instruments. The boy was clearly fascinated by all the activity and was pulling backwards, trying to separate himself from his caretaker. "Don't wander off," Ezlo said, forgetting for a moment that he couldn't understand him. "There are a lot of sharp instruments around here; you could hurt yourself." The red slash across Vaati's cheek reminded him all too well. The last thing he wanted was for something like that to happen again.

He stepped up, dragging the little boy behind him, and as soon as he made himself visible in the clearing, every minish in the area paused and turned towards him.

"…Master Ezlo!" one of the tailors exclaimed at last. "How wonderful it is to have you with us! Would you like some cloth?"

"Did you figure out an explanation for this phenomenon?" one of the other workers asked.

"Uh…no, sorry, but I'll get on the case." Actually, this one had Ezlo stumped. It just had to be some person accidentally leaving all their clothes behind. "I'd like a few packets of cloth to take back with me. Potential materials, you know…"

The minish nodded, and a few of them turned back around to the wheelbarrows to stack up the extra cloth, but mostly, they all stayed facing forwards. Ezlo knew they were staring, but it really wasn't their fault…they couldn't help but stare. They were staring at Vaati. He stared straight back at them, oblivious, and offered them a smile.

The other workers came back with a separate wheelbarrow full of both blue and brown scraps and wheeled it straight up to Ezlo's side. "You didn't have to bring _that_ much," he told them, in an astonished voice. "I don't want to take money away from the cloth business."

"Oh, no," one of the higher-ups assured him. "We've got more than enough as it is. We hardly ever get to dismantle whole articles of clothing."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to stick around for a little longer, watch the process," Ezlo informed him. "I'll just sit over there by the mushroom."

"Sure," the worker gratefully said. "We'd be honored."

Vaati's large red eyes remained fixated on them, even as Ezlo dragged him off towards the tall fungi. He wondered why they hadn't asked about him yet—they sure seemed curious. Were they _afraid_? Vaati was only a child, but they'd probably never seen anything like him before. After Ezlo had settled underneath his cushiony umbrella, he thought he saw a few of them whispering among themselves.

He let go of Vaati's hand, but fixed him with a stern look, warning him not to go far. He looked a little disappointed as he sat down next to him, and crossed his arms in a pout. He'd probably wanted to pester the other minish and try to play with them.

As consolation, Ezlo decided to sacrifice one of his cloth scraps and gave it to the insistently bored child. Vaati clutched it for a few moments like a blanket and turned it over in his hands. Then, he slowly began to move it up and down like a parachute. This seemed like fun, so he got to his feet and did it again. Soon enough, he was running back and forth, flapping the cloth out behind him like a cape. Sometimes, it would land on his head, and he amused himself for a while draping it over himself and pretending to be a ghost.

Ezlo smiled and chuckled at the boy's antics and generally seemed to be paying more attention to him than to the so-called "process." The minish workers were staring even more now while they continued clipping up the cloth and ripping out seams, but neither of them cared. Vaati was having too much fun with the cloth, and Ezlo was having too much fun watching him with the cloth.

Eventually, Ezlo became aware of an unusual presence hovering around his shoulder. Glancing over, he looked into the smiling face of one of the old tailors, one he was more familiar with. "Well, hello there, Milio," he greeted, politely. "Didn't notice you sitting over there."

Milio took a seat next to the master magician and smiled over at Vaati, who was currently tying the cloth around his head like a kerchief. "Cute little thing ya got there. Where'd he come from?"

With a deep breath, Ezlo began his story again of how he'd found him and taken him in to heal him up. "I've got to go looking for his parents, but I haven't a clue where to start looking. It's like he just appeared out of nowhere," Ezlo told his friend.

Milio frowned. "I know. I sure haven't seen any folks around lookin' like him. White skin…stubby nose and feet…scrawny legs… He probably has some sort of genetic mutation…he's still cute, though."

Ezlo looked back out at the little boy, who was still prancing around with his "cape", blissfully unaware. "I'm a bit concerned about it though," he admitted. "He's going to draw stares all his life, and it'll be just for his unusual looks. I hope he never grows up."

Milio looked grimly over at the boy as well, and the two just sat there in silence.

It was true, Ezlo sadly realized. Vaati had a lot of struggle and suffering ahead of him. If this was the way full-grown minish reacted to him, how would other children? _Well_, he decided, _he'll just have to have as much fun as he can now to make up for it_.

(-)

They didn't exist. Ezlo had put up posters around the town and the forest. He wired out messages through the Tree Communicators to reach remote areas like the swamp and the mountains. He'd called just about every city hall and hospital, looking for some record of the boy's birth. He'd had to sit through hundreds of baby descriptions, but none of them fit. He sat around by the communicator all week, just waiting for the call.

Vaati's parents had to be out there somewhere…they'd be delighted when they found one of his advertisements detailing the discovery of their lost child and immediately call him to come pick him up. But nothing came. Ezlo jumped every time it chimed, but it always turned out to be a friend of his or a customer needing magical aid. The little boy's parents had to be dead…or they were purposely not claiming him because they'd wanted to abandon him in the first place. Again, his looks were working against him—they might've thought of his as a mutant, an impurity.

Towards the end of that week, Ezlo resigned himself to the fact that they were never coming. Though he couldn't admit it to himself, he was deeply relieved.

"_Hoi_, Vaati," he greeted the little boy one day, who was sitting on the floor, playing with a wooden boat set he'd made him. "_Ploo_ _traei fliigi utoa ti kraa_?" Hello, Vaati. Do you want to go on a walk with me?

Vaati turned towards him with wide, curious eyes. "_Fliig_…_kraa_?" Go walk? Those were the only two words out of the sentence that he'd understood. Ezlo had been sitting with him every day (not too far away from a communicator) to show him some books and pick out simple words for him to learn. He couldn't speak in full sentences yet, but it was amazing how much he had learned in a matter of a week.

Ezlo bent down and swept him up, holding him in front of his face by the torso. "_Ii_. _Fliig_ _au ti kraa_. _Ika_ _eu pridarg praamaas_." Yes. We're going on a walk. I'm going to be your father now.

Vaati's face lit up and he stretched his stubby arms out to grab Ezlo around the neck. "_Pridarg_…Ezlo…_Picio_ _uea_." Father, Ezlo…I love you.

He'd picked this phrase up from Ezlo's current nighttime send-off, and his heart nearly burst hearing it come back to him. He'd always been afraid to be a father, figuring kids were a distraction and he'd be a bad father anyway…but if this was what fatherhood was like, why hadn't he done it sooner?

He turned his head downward and pressed a kiss on the top of Vaati's little purple head. "…_Picio_ _uea taa_." I love you too.

(-)

Ezlo finally stopped by the side of the dirt path that wound through the grass blades. They were getting to the transition portion now, between the town and the forest. A few blades of light peeked out over them, bathing the area in a mystic glow. This was around where he'd first found Vaati and where the cloth-mine used to be, but thankfully, it didn't seem to have any effect on him.

He padded after his new father, kicking up dust with his sandals. It was his first time wearing the new blue robe and brown pants Ezlo had made for him from the cloth pile, but he wasn't concerned at all if it got dirty.

Ezlo hadn't been on another essence walk since the boy had interrupted the last one, and although he figured it would be detrimental to his concentration to bring him along, he'd thought, why not? Maybe if he told Vaati something really special and magical was about to happen, he'd sit still. It wouldn't really be a lie.

When he paused to close his eyes and take in a deep, cleansing breath, Vaati looked up at him, probably wondering what the heck he was doing. "…Eh…Ezlo…?"

"I'm feeling the essence of the universe," Ezlo whispered back to him

Vaati frowned and continued to stare. At any moment, you would expect a gigantic question mark to appear floating above his head.

"The wind is talking to me," Ezlo tried to use simpler terms. "I'm listening to the grass and the ground…"

Slowly, Vaati nodded. He couldn't really understand, but he got the main idea.

Ezlo gently opened his eyes. He'd suddenly gotten a very weird impulse. It was madness, his mind argued. It wouldn't possibly work. But the voice nipping at the idea in his soul just wouldn't leave him alone. It had probably been the wok of the atmosphere. It had noticed what was on his mind and combined itself with his thoughts. But he had to try it. The universe commanded it, and he felt compelled to oblige.

He bent down and swept Vaati up again, placing him on the soft cushion of a nearby mushroom. The boy bounced a little on its surface, trying to get comfortable and stretched his arms out behind him for balance.

"Now you try," Ezlo suddenly found himself saying.

Why? How? A boy his age couldn't possibly understand. Very few minish in the world possessed the ability for magic. He'd only get disappointed when he couldn't do anything and probably think he was letting his new father down.

"Just close your eyes…breathe slowly…"

Vaati closed his eyes and started taking in a deep breath, obviously copying Ezlo's example from earlier.

"That's it…now, just listen…"

A tense, yet serene silence fell over the path. Ezlo fixed his eyes on the little boy as the time went on. This wasn't right, he knew it…but still, any young boy would've gotten bored and wandered off by now...

Vaati's body was very still. His little chest gently fluctuated and his eyes remained shut. Had he fallen asleep sitting up?

"…Vaati?" Ezlo finally whispered. "Do you feel anything?"

Slowly, his rounded head began to move…it was nodding.

Ezlo froze. That…that couldn't be the truth. He was just humoring him…but the next thing that happened nearly sent the old sage into a stupor.

Vaati was beginning to float. The ends of his cloak began to turn up, along with pieces of his hair. He hadn't moved an inch, but it looked like he was sitting on a static ball. Slowly, his sleeves began to pull upwards as well, and his arms began to lift.

Just as the arms started to move, his concentration suddenly broke. His robe fell back into his lap, and his hair fell back over his ears. His eyes popped back open and he blinked, getting used to the world again.

Ezlo couldn't breathe. He'd been able to levitate completely several times in his life, but only once he had become an adult. To see someone this young perform a partial levitation…

Vaati giggled at Ezlo's flabbergasted expression, completely unaware of the amazing feat he'd just performed. "_Klii_!" he cried. Fun.

"Ah…Uh…Er…Whuh…Huh…" Ezlo was incapable of coherent speech. He stuttered and gibbered and tried to form words, but it wasn't working.

Vaati laughed even harder at his noises and ended up laughing himself right off the mushroom.

Ezlo finally snapped into reality and rushed forward to catch him. "V…Vah…Vaati!!!" he finally burst out. "You did it!!! I…I don't believe it!!! You're amazing!!!"

"Whee!" Vaati cried, not understanding a word of it and just throwing his arms up in celebration.

"Wow…" As Ezlo excitedly jabbered away at the little boy and began to carry him back to the workshop, a deep fascination settled over him. What a coincidence…that the random boy he had found abandoned in the forest would turn out to have such an inherent talent for magic. He _had _had to start looking for an apprentice soon… It was a miracle that they'd found each other.

And as Ezlo walked off, tickling Vaati to keep him laughing, he couldn't help but see the potential. If this was what he could do with his magic now, just what would he be able to do once he learned how to use it? It was all so very exciting…


	2. The Weirdo

This chapter was written entirely in my English notebook. Hey, the assignment is to "write anything every day". Why not get credit for doing things you like? That said, most of this was also written in pen during work or at 10:30 am while I'm still half-asleep. Forgive any little mistakes you might see.

Yay! Little Vaati goes to school! I want to say that, with this chapter, I'm not trying to say "Vaati became evil because he was picked on as a child". He actually does make friends as you'll see in the end, and being teased doesn't have too much bearing on the eventual result. It's just a fact of his life. If you wonder why everyone laughs at his name, remember that "vaati" means "unknown" in the minish language. Imagine having a kid in your class named Unknown.

Ah, Belari and Jotari. They're _not _original characters! Belari is that minish just outside of the Minish Village who gives you the bombs and the remote bombs. His name shows up when you fuse Kinstones with him. Jotari is that minish in yellow at the bottom of the bookcase telling you to gather all the books. Elder Librari says something like "Even Jotari doesn't come to visit me anymore," and that same minish shows up in his house later, so I assume it's the "Jotari" he was talking about. I also assume it's a girl from the way it um…admires him. Of course, I made up the part about her having a ponytail. And yellow _is_ a rare town minish color. One of the yellow town minish says this. Also, if you notice, Belari and Jotari seem much smarter and more mature than seven-year-old kids usually are. Belari's just a prodigy—a child genius who really should be moved up a few grade levels, and Jotari is just…really mature for her age. Maybe it just comes with being a yellow town minish. Oh, well.

Can't guarantee when the next chapter will be out. Hopefully before Christmas. I'm going to have a lot of free time, but that doesn't mean anything. I might use it to catch up on my reading…

Yes, I'm one of the few Zelda fans who isn't going nuts over the release of the Wii and Twilight Princess. In fact, I won't be getting a Wii until the price goes down. I'm just too poor. Besides, even if I had the money, the thing would just get to sit in its pretty little box because I don't even have a TV to play it on! Yes, that's how poor I am, folks! At least I've got a computer and the internet! I'll be trying to stay off the internet as much as possible in order to avoid spoilers, but I'll make sure to still come here to update, though.

Vaati, Ezlo, Belari, Jotari, and everyone else except for Miss Tessi and other random minish with names belong to Nintendo (and Capcom?) I actually named Miss Tessi after a friend of mine, though she's nothing like her.

(-)

Chapter 2: The Weirdo

"Why do I have to go to school?" Ah, the eternal seven-year-old question.

Ezlo smiled back at his adopted son. By now, he'd had time to officially adopt him. "So you can learn new things, of course," he replied, as he turned back around to continue re-shelving his spell books.

"But you teach me everything," Vaati protested. He placed his down quill back in its base with a _clink_, as if to emphasize this point. His short little legs swung over the workbench's stool. "Why do I need someone _else_ to teach me?"

"Because for all you know, I could be lying to you." Ezlo loved taunting him like this and making him think. Though it was sometimes a bit cruel, playing with his young and impressionable mind like this, it was best for keeping him on his toes.

Vaati turned his face up towards him, interestedly. "You wouldn't do that…would you?"

Ezlo smiled and glided over to the desk's edge to look the boy in the face. "No," he assured him, steadily. "But you may find that other teachers have different ways of teaching you, and you might like their methods better. Getting all kinds of points of view on a subject will help you to become a more intelligent and well-rounded scholar."

Vaati lowered his head to let it rest on the desk's surface. "But what if I _like_ the way you teach? What if I _don't_ like my other teachers? They can't teach me Human."

"Ah, but you've still got a long way to go before even _I _could teach you Human," Ezlo explained. He rested a hand on the top of Vaati's head and brushed his fingers through the purple strands. "You've got to master your own language first before you can begin to learn another one."

"But I _do_ know Cricriim," Vaati argued. "You even told me yourself—I've come a long way…"

"Your spelling is atrocious."

"Aw, who cares about spelling?"

But it was true. Vaati _had _come a long way in these last four years. He spoke the language fluently, though he had some trouble writing, and understood a lot more about the world. He had begun to perform a few minor spells under Ezlo's guidance—like to find things and to make plants grow. He was still working on his levitation and had almost made it completely off the ground on a few occasions.

And, most obviously, the boy was starting to grow up. He grew rather rapidly compared to most minish boys and was about level with Ezlo's waist. He wore a blue tunic, pants and shoes, and a purple apron draped over him, ending just at the knees. A floppy, blue hat stretched over his head, with a sparkly, white pom-pom dangling from the end. His favorite color had always been blue. That slash across his left cheek had finally healed completely, and as Ezlo had predicted, it had left a small, curving scar.

The most striking difference, however, was his hair. Vaati's hair poked out over his ears and fell just past his chin. It was long enough to put into a ponytail and style into different shapes. He did have to keep getting it trimmed, so it wouldn't get _too_ long, but otherwise, this was exactly the way he'd wanted it.

(-)

It was sometime in the month of May. Vaati had just "turned" four years old. Since Ezlo had no idea when his real birthday was, he had named the day he'd found him his "birthday". Ezlo decided to give him a haircut for the special event. The boy's hair was getting a little too long—it poked a little below his ears. Ezlo instructed him to sit down on one of his stools, covered him with a long piece of cloth, and brought out his comb and scissors.

"No!" little Vaati cried, as soon as he saw the scissors.

"It's okay," Ezlo assured him, giving him a comforting pet on the head. "It's okay; I'm not going to hurt you. Just sit still and this won't hurt a bit."

"No!" Vaati insisted. "No, no! No haircut! I don't want haircut!"

"But your hair is getting quite long," Ezlo told him, stroking it again. "It needs to be cut down to normal size. Boys don't normally have long hair."

"But _you_ have long hair," little Vaati chirped.

Ezlo froze. True, most elders grew their hair long as a status symbol, but that was all it was. How was he supposed to explain _that_ to him?

"I want long hair like you!"

And that was it. His heart had melted into a puddle of goo in his chest, and he couldn't insist any more. He wanted to be like him. "Okay, then," Ezlo firmly decided. "If that's what you want, then so be it. I'll just give you a little trim." And that was the way it had been ever since.

(-)

But, unfortunately, the day had to arrive when spelling would have to count. Vaati stood, hiding behind Ezlo's green robe and staring suspiciously at the sign tacked onto the gigantic wooden crate. "Nayri S. Leafseed…El…Ele…Elephanty?"

"Elementary," Ezlo informed him. "This is an elementary school—a school for children like you."

Vaati frowned. "I don't want to go." Already, he was beginning to hate going to school, and he hadn't even been yet.

"Give it a chance," Ezlo insisted. "Who knows? You've never been. It could be a lot of fun."

"Have _you_ ever been to school?"

"Of course! How do you think I got this smart? And while I didn't completely enjoy everything about it, I didn't completely despise it either."

Ezlo looked back and glared into the eyes of nearby staring parents. They were probably only in awe of his presence, but the incessant staring was incredibly rude.

A few groups of children ran around the outside lot together, probably already friends from a neighborhood, daycare center, or basic-level schooling. Vaati was intelligent enough, from Ezlo's own home-schooling, to skip these educational levels. In fact, with his amount of knowledge, he'd probably turn out to be head of his class, but he didn't have any kind of confidence in his enhanced abilities.

The special thing about this particular elementary school was that it was situated right on the border between the town and the forest. The forest-dwelling minish children could mix in and mingle with the town-dwellers. Ezlo had figured this would give Vaati an excellent opportunity, not only to get some hands-on experience with the forest culture and language, but also to feel a bit more comfortable in a place where not everyone would be a clone of his neighbor.

But, unfortunately, as he surveyed the social situation, it didn't seem to be as welcoming as he'd hoped. Groups of forest-dwellers and groups of town-dwellers played in cliques with each other, and there were hardly any mixed groups. Ezlo sighed. Such is life—full of a bunch of cliques and hardly any mixed groups. It actually might not have been the best decision as a school where Vaati would fit in.

Slowly, Ezlo turned and bent down to give him an important speech. "Listen, Vaati. It's probably not going to be the work or the teacher that's going to make you hate school. It's going to be the other students. They're going to laugh at you. They're probably going to say some pretty awful things to you and make you feel terrible about yourself. But this is the most important thing to remember…"

Vaati's large red eyes were growing steadily larger. He was probably scaring him even more, but these things needed to be said.

"…You can't let them make you feel like that. You can't let them keep putting you down and pushing you around. Never, ever wish you were different just because they say you should be. Don't ever try to change yourself for them. Promise me you won't, and that you'll try to make friends."

Ezlo already knew that Vaati was becoming a loner. He'd been pulled away from approaching others so many times during his young childhood that he'd eventually stopped trying. He preferred to play alone up in his room, or just with Ezlo in one of their tickle-wrestling matches. Unfortunately, that had been a result of his own persuasion. He could very much picture Vaati just sitting at his school desk and doing his work all day without saying a word to another child. Whether he wanted to or not, he'd eventually have to interact with them… He pictured Vaati sitting in a dark corner, eating lunch all by himself, and sitting alone under a flower, reading, while the rest of the children killed each other at recess. No, it wasn't going to happen. Not to _his_ adopted child. He wasn't going to _let _it happen.

Vaati's head turned downwards, his face disappearing into his hair. Obviously, he was even more nervous now than he'd been before.

"Vaati…" Ezlo insisted. "You have to promise me." He held out his hand and waited for the boy to take it. "You have to promise me you'll try your hardest. You have to try as hard as you can to make a place for yourself here. This isn't one of my lessons—it's even more important that you succeed here, so promise me."

The boy trembled a little, but slowly, he was coming back out of hiding. Gently, he slipped his smooth little hand into Ezlo's large, old, and gnarled one. "Okay, I'll try. I'll try my hardest. I promise."

Ezlo smiled and make an "X" motion across his chest. "Cross your heart and hope to die?"

Vaati nodded and mirrored his move with a little, stubby finger. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Well, okay then!" Ezlo purposely lightened the atmosphere by breaking into a jovial boom. He bent down to give Vaati a light kiss on the center of the top of his head. "You go have fun at school, my boy."

Vaati glared at him and hastily swiped at his hair, as if trying to rid it of his kiss. "Will you stop that?!" he whined. "I'm not a baby anymore!"

Ezlo smiled back at him, but his gaze contained a certain buried sadness. "No," he admitted, with the undertones of a sigh lining his voice. "You certainly aren't." He looked up at the solar-powered clock attached to the building's wooden exterior just as a singsong bell chimed from within.

A lady dressed in a frilly green robe appeared at the entrance. "Okay everyone!" she announced in a cheerful, projected voice. "Welcome to your first day at Leafseed Elementary! All Stage One students come with me! I want you to all form a line in front of me! Stage One students!"

Ezlo nudged the fearful Vaati in front of him. "That's you. Better get going. I'll be waiting out here once school is over. And remember our promise."

Vaati nodded. With a final push from Ezlo's staff, he stumbled forward towards the other children jostling and competing for positions. As he approached, the end of the line turned around to stare at him. Vaati turned back around too, even as the others began to pile up behind him, and gave a silent wave to his father figure.

Ezlo waved back and continued to watch. His eyes didn't leave Vaati's spot, even as the children gathered around him and completely blocked him out, even as other parents began to say bye-bye and depart, and even as the amorphous blob of a line began to crawl up the stairs and into the building until it finally disappeared.

At last, Ezlo sighed and tapped his staff around him as he slowly began to turn to leave. It was as if he was offering his most precious invention to a hoard of savages who would most likely tear it to pieces. It was time to give Vaati his freedom. As much as he'd like to turn him back into a toddler and keep him in a little cage on the corner of his desk, it just wasn't fair. It had to be done. Vaati had to grow separately from him now, in a foreign environment, and frankly, it was scaring the heck out of him.

Ezlo just took a deep breath and began the long trek back to his workshop. _Why_? He wondered, though he didn't stop or hesitate for a minute. _I won't be able to get any work done. I should just camp out here. _And it was true. Though he did return to his old desk and open up his books, he couldn't read. So, for the next five hours, he just sat around on the stool, thinking about Vaati.

(-)

It was apparent the moment they entered the building that the other little children were repulsed by him, but thankfully, he didn't notice. Vaati was too busy marveling at the shiny, polished floors and the rooms carved out and set up inside this simple wooden crate. It had been crafted, insulated against the environment, and now resembled a miniature human house. It was even fitted with heating, plumbing, and lighting units, some of which had been Ezlo's former inventions. He'd never been in an establishment of this size before.

The teacher was also a fascinating distraction. She looked friendly enough, greeting the children at the front of the line with a smile and answering their questions as she led the group to the designated classroom. Light brown hair framed her rounded face, and she wore a pair of spectacles—the first that Vaati had ever seen. Her green outfit reminded him a bit of Ezlo, but hers was accented with decorations and darker shades that ended at the bottom in those familiar dressy leaf sections.

As the group continued down the hall, Vaati peered into the other classrooms, noticing older students chatting away and nervously looking for their seats. They were pros at this school thing by now. He wished he could've walked up and asked them what it was like.

Finally, the teacher arrived at her classroom and ushered all of the students inside. Her smile twitched and wavered a little as Vaati passed by, but he didn't notice because he was too busy taking in the classroom. Rows of small desks and chairs stood at attention, as if they might start marching off to battle. A paint-board was set up at the front, along with the teacher's desk, and a few large desks, mushroom-cap chairs, and bright, cartoon illustrations lined the back wall.

The children started scrambling for seats, wanting to be near the front or near their friends. Vaati, of course, didn't care and just took the nearest available one. Now, the others were scrambling for seats away from him. There weren't enough, and one unfortunate boy was forced to sit next to him.

"Tomorrow, I'll have permanent seating arrangements," the teacher announced, to a chorus of groans. "And now, I'm going to take roll. When you hear your name, please say "here."

She began to rattle off a list of names arranged in alphabetical order, starting with "Altaria." Since the minish never had last names (there were enough first names for all of them without two having the same name) they were arranged by first name. Vaati knew he had to be near the end, if not last on the list, so he sat back and listened to the names of his classmates and their replying voices. Any one of them might be his best friend, he optimistically thought. School might not be so bad. Obviously, he hadn't yet noticed the boy next to him, cowering in fear and squishing his little body against the left side of his desk.

At last, the teacher's finger moved down to one of the names at the bottom of the list. There was short, silent pause as she stared at the letters on her scroll and squinted at them, trying to change them into something else. That couldn't really say what she thought it said…was this some kind of joke? "Vah…Vaati?" she finally announced.

A few students broke into giggles. Aha! It was _their _doing!

"Here!" an excited, chirpy voice cried, and the teacher froze. It had just been established that this "Vaati" was a joke. No, he existed. It was that weird-looking one. Who in their right mind would name their kid "Vaati"? The teacher stared at Vaati, as if trying to decide for herself if he was real or an elaborate apparition of her imagination. At last, she managed a weak smile as little Vaati waved and tried to get her attention. "Um…good morning, Vaati. Well…Yatto?"

Vaati's head dropped, and his face went with it. The teacher didn't like him. Though she'd been forced to say something polite, he'd seen all too well the way her face had twisted and contorted, first at his name and then at his face. Vaati didn't understand. It had only been a few minutes since school had started. What could he have possibly done wrong in such a short amount of time? Now he really wished he'd gotten to ask the older students to tell him the rules. There was probably some unwritten law of social behavior that he'd unknowingly broken. Maybe it was the waving. He wouldn't wave at anybody again.

"Okay…" the teacher tried to retrieve her bearings and looked down at her daily planner as a reminder. "Now that I know all of you, let's have a chance for you all to get to know each other." Each child was instructed to stand up, row by row, and announce his or her name and tell the class a little about themselves. Well, at least this seemed like fun.

The girl in the front-row seat was the unlucky first victim. "Um…" she stuttered, picking at her pink leaflet skirt. "My name is Pufferi and um, I'm a Cricriim minish. I live in a house with my whole family. I…like swimming and pumpkin seeds."

"Very good, Pufferi," the teacher said, with an encouraging smile. "You may sit back down now. Who's next?"

Vaati listened intently to his classmates' stories. Most of them said where they lived, what their family was like, and what their favorite color or food was. He was getting excited as the line grew closer and closer to his row. He was going to say everything. After all, his best friend was probably out there, and he needed to introduce himself properly. Vaati liked listening to the Shishiin minish when they talked. They had a strange clipped accent to their voices and murmured "_Hunnuhunnuh_" when they were flustered. He laughed on cue with the rest of the class when one boy missed his seat and slipped trying to sit back down.

A nervous flutter began in his chest and spread down into his stomach as the boy in front of him stood up and delivered his speech. He couldn't hear him at all, and he didn't even remember his name—he was putting his own speech together carefully in his mind. Vaati gulped, bracing himself, when the boy's butt hit his seat again, and slowly, carefully, he stood up.

"Hi everyone…" His voice sounded so loud to his own ears, even though he wasn't speaking loud at all. "My name is Vaati. I'm a Cricriim minish, and I live in a stump with my father…"

"No you're not!"

Vaati's heart pounded against his chest as one of his classmates suddenly broke out in protest.

"You're not one of us; you look totally different!"

"Y-Yes, I am…" Vaati started to argue, but he never got the chance to finish his argument.

"Are you from another country?" another voice in the crowd asked.

"Are you diseased?"

"Maybe she's another tribe."

"You mean the Gragraam?"

"No, Gragraam look more like us."

"A fourth tribe?"

"I though there _were _only three tribes."

Vaati opened his mouth and tried to continue his speech, but by now, the room was abuzz with questions and speculations. He couldn't fit one word in, and his ears began to droop in disappointment.

"Okay, okay, that's enough!" the teacher yelled above them. "Vaati, you may sit down now." She turned back towards him, looking slightly frazzled.

Vaati slowly slipped back into his seat as the noise died away into a whispering silence and lowered his head towards the shiny surface of the desk. He placed his hands politely in his lap, and his ears drooped all the way down, slightly brushing his shoulders. "…I like blueberries," he whispered, sadly. "And the color blue. And playing on the swings."

(-)

The morning passed by fairly quickly. The teacher introduced herself as Miss Tessi and started giving them all a preview of what they would be doing during the school year. Vaati tried his best to pay attention, but all of his former school enthusiasm had been drained. He stared at his paper-white hands and down at his feet. So what if they didn't look like everyone else's; he could still walk and run and do everything that the other young minish could do. Why _did_ he look so different, then? He'd never thought about it before. Vaati mentally filed that away as something to ask Ezlo after school was over.

"Don't forget," Miss Tessi chirped to her class. "If you're ever having any kind of trouble in class, you come see me. I'm here to help you."

_Nuh-uh_, Vaati thought, bitterly. _Liar._ _You don't like me, so why would you help me?_

At about eleven 'o clock, Miss Tessi led the group down into a larger room lined with long tables. Vaati was forced to stand in another line, waiting for two ladies to pass out trays of fruit and bread pieces. He received his tray politely, thanked the ladies, and went to sit in a corner table to eat. Carefully, he ate the bread crumbs and picked the apple and pear pieces out of the hodgepodge of fruits. No blueberry, unfortunately. Vaati was somewhat of a picky eater. He sighed when he had finished and stared at the wooden side of the crate. _I can't wait to get out of this place and go back to Ezlo being my only teacher. He likes me. He doesn't care what I look like. _

That got him to thinking about Ezlo, and their earlier conversation came back into mind. _He was trying to warn me about this_, he realized. _He knew this was how they were going to treat me, so he made me promise not to let it get to me_. Vaati frowned and gritted his teeth together behind his lips. _So I'm not going to let him down! I'm going to make friends, no matter what! I'm going to try my hardest!_ By the time Vaati had thrown his tray away and rejoined his class for the trek upstairs, he was slowly starting to pick himself back up. He kept repeating that promise he'd made to Ezlo in the schoolyard, and by the time recess rolled around at the end of the day, he was once again filled with determined confidence.

Since Miss Tessi had announced that the weather had "turned rather icky", they had recess inside the classroom. The other kids flocked to the cushy mushroom-cap chairs to bounce on them. A few went to the tables, where they pulled out paper and paint and started to draw.

Vaati began to fish out his own quill to join them, when he noticed something else in the corner. A group of four or five Cricriim boys, like himself, were using the large bucket of blocks to stack up and construct a building around them. A block fort! That seemed like fun! Vaati shoved his quill back into his robe pocket and scraped up his courage to go ask the boys if he could join them. "_Hoi_!" he called, over the rising block wall. "That looks like fun! May I join you?"

Some of the boys were inside the fort and some others were outside, building the side walls, but they all turned to stare at Vaati at the sound of his voice. "Get lost," one of the boys called over at him. "Only boys are allowed in our fort."

Vaati frowned at first, confused, then put his hands on his hips, angrily and glared at them. "I _am_ a boy!" he protested.

The boys inside did a double-take and nearly toppled over the walls of their own fort. "What the…?! Well…you know what—you _look_ like a girl, so that's good enough. You can't come in!"

Vaati opened his mouth and prepared to shout, "That's not fair!" but another of the fort builders cut him off.

"He's not one of us anyway, even if he is just a boy with girly hair. What _is_ he anyway?"

"I told you!" Vaati called, desperately. Slowly, his defenses were starting to break down against his will. He wanted so badly to play with them and be their friend…but they just wouldn't accept him. "I'm a boy and a Cricriim minish, just like you!"

One of the boys, wearing a red outfit, shook his head, a glimmer of fear in his eyes. "You're lying. I don't know what you are, but you're not one of us…"

A gasp burst out from one of the boys inside, as if he'd just discovered the startling truth. "Maybe he's an alien!" As soon as it was suggested, it seemed to dawn on all of the others too.

"You're right! I mean, look at his skin! It's all white and bluish!"

"Yeah, and his legs are all scrawny, with tiny feet…"

"He's even wearing those feet-cover things like the humans!"

"Quick!" the order issued from the fort's interior. "Everyone inside!" The other minish boys zipped inside the block walls to sit, cowering, on the floor next to their friends.

"Go away!" the apparent leader yelled, hatred lining his voice. "Go away, you alien monster!"

And so that's just what Vaati did. He turned and ran back to his seat, teardrops misting the edges of his vision. That was it. His most important mission here. And he'd failed. When Miss Tessi finally announced dismissal for the day, he was the first one bolting out the door.

(-)

Where in Hyrule had he gone?! It had already been three hours after school had let out. Where _was_ he?! Had he run away?! _Why _had he run away?! It couldn't have been _that_ awful…could it?

Ezlo treaded carefully over the sopping wet ground. It had begun to rain only thirty minutes after he'd appeared at the schoolyard. Each raindrop was like a bucket of water spilling down on him. They fell alarmingly fast—like a peppering of water bombs spread over the land. To think that he'd been out for three hours in this…

When Ezlo had arrived outside the school, Vaati hadn't been there to greet him. All this time, he'd been picturing Vaati rejoining him after school with either an excited smile or a disappointed frown on his pale little face. The thought hadn't even occurred to him that he might not see him at all. He'd yelled at the teacher. "Where is he?! Where is my child?!"

She'd just shrugged. "He was first out the door and just disappeared. I figured he'd seen you and rushed out to meet you.

"Figured?" Ezlo had tried very hard to keep his voice level, but it was almost impossible. "_Figured_?! _Figured _isn't good enough! You were responsible for my child, and you shouldn't have let him out of your sight until you were sure he was with me! He could be lost by now, sick and starving! For all you people know, he could be dead!"

The young lady had backed off a bit, her eyes wide and her heart pounding. "Oh, I'm sure he's not…"

"Let me tell you something," Ezlo had decided, waggling a long, bony finger in her face. "If I can't find him by the end of the day, you're going to be hearing a mouthful from me. Be grateful if you don't get fired for your negligence!" He'd turned around and disappeared in a green swirl of robe while the young teacher sat, trembling on the ground.

As merciful as Ezlo was known to be, he would keep his word. If anything had happened to Vaati, they would never hear the end of it.

Ezlo walked through the rain unharmed, thanks to his water-repellent shield. Produced by a high concentration of magic, it surrounded him like a bubble and bounced back any amount of water that hit it. Even though it was quite a complicated spell, Ezlo mentally filled it away as an important technique to teach Vaati when he grew old enough. Imagine how soaking wet he'd be. Minish were small enough to dodge between the raindrops, but somehow, he doubted that Vaati had managed to avoid them all.

Ezlo had been searching nonstop for the past three hours. How far could Vaati have gone? He was only a little boy with little stubby child legs. He couldn't have run very far away. Yet the distance to cover was so incredibly large. Vaati could've gone in any one of the two hundred directions away from the school…

He had already tried a finding spell, but it was just as he'd thought. Vaati was blocking it. You could locate other minish with the finding spell, sure, but it wouldn't work with another magical being. Another minish with the magical ability would simply absorb the spell beam instead of letting it bounce off him. He'd have to rely on his own physical senses.

Ezlo scanned the ground diligently, looking for Vaati's footprints. They'd be little oval-shaped things, from the bottoms of his sandals, instead of the forked, birdlike prints of normal minish. Sadly, he realized that he might've passed by this way before it started to rain, and the ground hadn't been soft enough for his feet to leave an impression. Still, it was one of the only hopes he had, and he clung to it.

He was beginning to regret his decision. He could've easily kept home-schooling the boy…but he couldn't keep sheltering and protecting him from the world forever. If he was ever going to grow up to be his replacement, he'd have to learn to communicate with the public—talk to customers and figure out how to magically aid them—to research current life and make magical innovations to improve both minish and human lives.

"Aaaaaaaaah…"

For instance, Ezlo was currently working on a specialized translation nutrient. When given to a plant, it could grow a fruit that could identify the various structures of languages. He hoped it would eventually work as a link between the minish and humans—they'd be able to understand human speech, and even to a certain extent, talk back to them.

"Aaaaaaaaah…"

That noise…Vaati?! Ezlo snapped back to attention. Vaati was around here somewhere, crying. He recognized that voice from the first time he'd found him. It hadn't really changed all that much.

"Hang on, Vaati!" Ezlo yelled, above the roaring waterfall of the rain. "I'm coming for you!" He perked up his long minish ears and followed the source of the sound. It had pretty much stopped, but he could still pinpoint the location of where he'd first heard it.

A puddle stood in his way (which was more like a small lake to a minish), so with a concentrated blast of magical energy, Ezlo blew the water away to either side. It took a lot concentration to perform that water-parting spell, and Ezlo was nearly depleted of his magical energy by the time he reached the other side. His shield was starting to weaken, but he couldn't stop now… Vaati was only…

Ezlo froze. There he was. And he couldn't believe what he saw. The rock overhanging just barely covered the trembling little body curled in its indent. For a moment, Ezlo didn't even recognize him.

Vaati sat with his back turned to him, head tucked down into his chest. Just as he had suspected, he was completely soaked—his clothes were turned a darker shade, his hair hung limp and heavy around his face, and water dripped steadily off of it onto the ground.

Ezlo opened his mouth to call out to the boy, but forced himself to pause for a moment. His long ears strained to hear against the pounding, sloshing splashing sound of the rain. Yes…there it was again. Vaati's crying. He was holding his breath and trying to suppress it, but it couldn't be completely silenced. "Vaati?" Ezlo finally asked.

As usual, the boy didn't respond.

"Vaati, what happened?"

_Slushhhhhh_…

The sound of the rain seemed to amplify Vaati's silence. It was his own tears; it was his own gloom.

Ezlo took a deep breath, slowly increasing his magical energy. "Vaati, it's okay. You don't have to tell me."

At this statement, his small soaked head at last began to turn around. Ah, reverse psychology. Tell someone that they don't have to tell you to get them to tell you. It wasn't working on Vaati, and he made no other motion to connect with him after the head turn.

Ezlo put on his warmest, most welcoming smile. "C'mon, Vaati. It's time to go home. You'll catch a death of cold if you stay out here."

And that's when he finally turned around, facing his father. Ezlo couldn't see his tears because his whole face was wet, but he could tell he'd been in pain from his constricted expression.

Ezlo closed his eyes and measured the remaining extent of his magic. Yes, there was enough…not to perform another water-part, but definitely for this. He concentrated very hard and pulled a towel out of the atmosphere.

Vaati didn't protest when he bent down to wrap it around him. He didn't protest as he slipped his arms around his shaking little body. And he still didn't protest when he lifted him up, tucking him against his chest and pulling him into the water shield.

"Ooof," Ezlo exhaled. "You're getting too big for this." He shifted Vaati's curled body into a more comfortable position against his old hip, and the boy clung to his robe in compliance. With his other hand, Ezlo planted his staff into a position further in front of him and used it as a steadying point to pull him forward. Unfortunately, he _would_ have to start using it as a walking stick after all. It was going to be a long walk home, but with Vaati in his arm, he knew they were going to make it. Now that he had found him, everything was going to be okay.

(-)

"Aaaawh!" Ezlo burst through the front door and set Vaati down at the nearest workbench. Ezlo didn't even have normal dining tables—just workbenches. He swiftly deactivated his shield and wrapped a fresh towel over his shivering little son. The only light came from the glow-mushroom, which cast an eerie green light over Vaati's reflecting white face. He looked like he was about to throw up.

Ezlo hurried to light the candle in the corner, which flooded the room with light, much in the same way a light bulb would a human house. From one of the other hidden corners, Ezlo produced a steaming bowl of soup, seemingly out of nowhere and placed it in front of Vaati in one fluid sweep. The boy backed away a bit into his chair and tried to pull the towel closer around him for warmth.

"Eat," Ezlo commanded. "It's past your suppertime. And the soup will make you feel warmer."

Vaati didn't respond, but only stared into the yellow-brown broth and poked at the visible vegetable pieces in it.

"Hurry up," Ezlo advised. "Before it gets cold and I have to warm it up again."

Vaati trembled again. A drop slipped off his face and plunked into the soup bowl. "Eh…_Ek_ _pricii u_…" he finally spoke. I'm sorry.

"It's okay," Ezlo assured him. "I'm not going to punish you, but next time something happens and you're upset, you have to come tell me about it. Don't just run away like that. You're very lucky you weren't drowned or killed by some local wild animal…"

Vaati shook his head violently. "No, not that… I failed you. I…I broke my promise. I let it get to me. I've disappointed you."

Ezlo was shocked. Had he…not wanted to see him again because he thought he'd be disappointed in him? Maybe that promise deal had been a bad idea. Slowly, the older that Vaati got, the harder it was becoming to figure out what was going on behind those big red eyes.

Ezlo slipped behind the bench stool and wrapped his arms around his son. "Vaati…" he began, with a sad smile. "You didn't fail me. You tried your hardest, didn't you? That was the deal. And what I asked you to do was incredibly hard—even some adults can't do it."

Slowly, the boy's ears were perking back up again, and his expression lifted. He turned around to look at Ezlo.

"Now…tell me what happened."

His gathering little smile instantly drooped back into the sockets on his face. "Um…"

"It's okay," Ezlo reaffirmed. "I already told you; I'm not angry or disappointed in you at all. Don't be embarrassed or ashamed. What did they say to you?"

Vaati turned back around to stare into his bowl of soup. The gently bubbling and steaming broth seemed to comfort and calm his nerves the more he stared into it. Ezlo stepped back and released the boy from his grasp. Perhaps the more he distanced himself from him and allowed the silence and the plopping bubbles of the hot soup take over, the more at ease and comfortable he would be with his confession. Sure enough, the silence and the soothing aroma were slowly unlocking his lips.

"…Ezlo…" Vaati was taking a deep breath, his little body shaking from fear of what was coming out of his mouth. "…What am I?"

Ezlo was so taken aback by the question that his brown eyes widened out of his long white eyebrows.

Vaati noticed his silence and turned back around rather suddenly. "I mean, what happened to my parents?"

Ezlo's heart was falling in his chest. He had always known this day would come eventually, but he had not expected it now. He should've known better. The other school kids would all have been talking about their mommies and daddies and grandparents and sisters and brothers.

"I know you're not my real father; you've always let me know that. But where _is_ my real father? Is he dead? And what about my mother? Where did I come from?" Vaati's little voice was strengthening and becoming more demanding as it continued. He needed the answers to these questions, and really needed them desperately. It was a part of his identity, and it had been missing all his life.

Ezlo uttered a deep sigh and resolved to talk to the boy as equally and casually as he could. "I'm sorry…" he began. "The simple truth is: I don't know. I found you one day out near the forest, injured and unclothed. You had a deep wound on your cheek, which is where that scar came from. I took you in to nurse you back to health, but I couldn't find your parents anywhere, despite all my attempts to contact them and notify them of your discovery. There was nothing. Now don't take this personally, but I don't know if they're dead…or were just ignoring my attempts, and abandoning you had been their goal."

Vaati lowered his head a little, disappointed. Though he knew it was highly improbable, he had been half-expecting a dramatic tale about how his father had been killed in a great war and his mother had died giving birth to him. Ezlo had no idea. For all he knew, his parents could have just purposely abandoned him. Even his own parents had been repulsed by him.

"To tell you the truth," Ezlo was continuing. "I have absolutely no idea where you came from."

Vaati's little shoulders slumped and his ears tipped down, resignedly. "Is that why I'm called Vaati?"

Ezlo paused for a moment, recalling when the boy had so insistently and confusedly declared that his name was Vaati. "Perhaps," he gently replied. A silence passed between them and Vaati was beginning to turn back around.

"But you know, I've always loved you," Ezlo reassured, wrapping his arms back around the child. "And I always _will _love you. _Picio_ _prlilas uea_."

Vaati reached back to rest a hand on his surrogate father's arm, but his disappointed expression didn't change. "They were laughing at my name." It was the first time he'd said anything about what had happened at school. "And you know what else they did? They said I wasn't one of them. They said I wasn't a minish. They called me an alien."

Ezlo froze again, but this time he didn't remove his protective arms. This was another thing that should have been inevitable. The other little minish would no doubt notice the difference between themselves and Vaati and make hurtful comments on it. It would have been bad enough if it was just his skin and his hair, but his whole body was strange to them.

That strange little body was starting to shake again. "I…I always thought I was a minish," Vaati began again, voice trembling. "I _want_ to be a minish. But I don't look anything like the other minish. If I'm a minish, why do I look so different? And if I'm _not_ a minish, what am I? Ezlo…am I really a minish?"

Ezlo blinked. This one had to be thought over. The truth in this case was probably once again "I have no idea". Vaati was a human, or at least he looked like one. He was probably either a human in the minish world—a pure impossibly—or a minish mutated in a laboratory or scientifically modified. Ezlo imagined Vaati in a cage, being poked and prodded. Being examined and tested, his red eyes wide under the light of an examination table. No. He couldn't tell him that.

At last, he turned his head down and planted another light kiss on the boy's head. "Of course you are."

This time, the boy didn't swat him away. His small voice began to pick up strength again. "I am?"

"You are," Ezlo confirmed again.

"But how come I…?"

"I have no idea," Ezlo finally played the truth card. "It's just another of the mysteries of being you. But you were born this way. This is how you're supposed to be. And I love you this way."

Vaati let himself be engulfed in his father's long robe and whiskers. He had to just accept it. Besides, when had Ezlo ever lied to him? He would never do a thing like that. So there he sat, slowly being warmed by the soup bowl on the table and Ezlo's close body.

"Eat your soup," Ezlo insisted when he finally pulled away. "You can't be catching a cold on me. You have school tomorrow, you know."

Vaati froze and stared at him with wide red eyes. "You're…you're not making me go back there…"

"Of course," Ezlo said again. "I can't just pull you out because of one little incident. Now eat!" It was an order.

A little scowl appeared on Vaati's face as he reluctantly turned back down and popped a spoonful of soup into his mouth.

"Now don't you worry," Ezlo continued, smiling mysteriously at his grudging little boy. "I've got a plan." He was making assumptions again, but they were pretty grounded assumptions. Thoughts based on previous experiences and hearsay. A hypothesis, really, not an assumption.

Vaati shoved another spoonful of soup into his mouth before wrenching his head back up. He'd suddenly realized how hungry he really was. "What now?" he asked. "Another promise?"

"No," Ezlo resolutely answered. "I'll never make you promise to do anything again, except to try your hardest. But now, I want to give you a new mission."

Vaati glanced down to slurp at his soup, but looked back up, excitedly. "What?!"

"Tomorrow, when you go to school, try to ignore the teasers and get a good look around the room. Then, I want you to find the minish who looks bored, who's not talking to anyone else and just doing work. Then, I want you to go up to him or her, say hi, and introduce yourself."

Vaati paused in terror and set his spoon back down. "But what if they don't like me? What if they've already heard about me from the others? What if they're only not talking to obey the rules?"

"Wait until recess," Ezlo added. "No teasing kids would remain silent during recess. If you hear someone else being called a "freak" or a "nerd", there's your best friend."

Vaati slowly returned to slurping soup and thought this plan over in his mind. It seemed highly unlikely…and yet he couldn't stop himself from wondering and dreaming about it later that night. He had to…it was his only chance. He was going to school tomorrow, and it was the only thing he could do to make it better.

(-)

A horrendous buzzing of twenty odd voices all talking at once hit his ears. Vaati stared into the moving, shifting group of little minish against the back wall. It was another lousy day outside, to his dismay. All day he'd been enduring stares and hurtful shunning. The whispers were the worst. The only thing that kept him going was the prospect of recess and carrying out his mission. He would do it this time…not just for Ezlo, but for himself!

_I want you to find the minish who looks bored, who's not talking to anyone else, and is just doing work_. His instructions came back into his head. Someone who looks bored…someone who isn't talking… That was a little hard to find in all the yelling, running, playing hubbub.

Vaati squinted his eyes from his seat and focused on the long table in the back. A few girls were painting in the corner, but on the other side, there was a little Shishiin minish who didn't appear to be talking to anyone. He worked diligently with some sort of cardboard contraption and didn't even glance at the girls across from him. That was him. He'd found him!

Now came the hard part. He had to walk up and say hi and introduce himself. At first, Vaati began to turn around, thinking, _that's good enough--I've done one step of the mission_. But another side, his slightly optimistic side, pushed him on. _C'mon, it can't be that bad. If he rejects you, oh well, you've done your best_. And with that thought, Vaati finally sucked in a deep breath and forced his legs forward. Before he knew it, he was at the boy's side, and everything seemed so much bigger than it had looked from afar.

"H…_H-Hoi_," Vaati finally forced from his mouth, slapping a smile on his face.

The boy turned, eyes wide. Oh no, he'd frightened him already.

"Um…my name is Vaati. Do you mind if I play with you?"

The boy stared some more and blinked slightly. "Uh…" he replied in that cute Shishiin accent. "I'm not playing. But, sure, if you want to."

Vaati's little heart soared above the clouds and he broke into a delighted smile. He took a seat next to the boy and happily watched his work.

"My name is Belari," he spoke up again. "You're the first minish who's ever asked me that."

"_Really_?!" The boy was completely shocked. How could anyone besides himself really have any trouble with other children? Maybe it was just because he wasn't interested in playing with blocks or painting. Vaati turned his eyes down towards the cardboard pieces that Belari was pasting together around a glass jar. How was he allowed to touch that glass jar? Maybe he took it in secret. "So, um…" Vaati slowly spoke up. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing?"

"I'm making a volcano," Belari simply stated. He didn't even look up from his work.

Vaati blinked. "How can you _make_ a volcano?" he asked. "Volcanoes are huge."

"It's a model," Belari affirmed. "The pressure of the excited liquid will build up in its center and then it'll blow up!" A little smile appeared on his face and he trembled excitedly.

Vaati, on the other hand, backed off, his eyes wide. "I-It's going to explode?!"

"Not right now," Belari told him. "I'm not done with it yet, and besides, you'll know when it's going to explode because I have to press a switch."

Vaati relaxed a little bit and scooted closer to get a look at the half-finished volcano. "That's cool," he decided, widening his eyes at it. "How come no one ever wanted to play with you?"

Belari sighed. "They call me a nerd and a science freak."

"That's not fair!" Vaati burst out. "You're perfectly normal! And you do such cool stuff!"

"They don't think it's cool," Belari disagreed. "They think it's scary and weird." Slowly, he turned to face Vaati again and looked sadly into his face.

"I know about you too. They laugh at you and think you're an alien because you look funny. But it's okay; I know better…" Belari had noticed the way Vaati had started to back off, the terror building, his heart sinking and pounding against his ears. "…You can't be an alien. An alien would look nothing like us at all, since they live on other planets with vastly different conditions than our own. They would have their own special adaptations."

"Wow," Vaati replied, eyes still wide, regardless. "You're really smart! I didn't understand any of those big long words you just said."

Belari hung his head. "That's why no one likes me. You might look weird on the outside, but you're perfectly normal on the inside, while I look perfectly normal on the outside, but am really weird on the inside."

"But this is great!" Vaati was so excited that he didn't really hear his new friend's last sentence. "There a reason why I can't be an alien! You have to explain it to everyone so they'll understand and stop being afraid of me."

Belari just frowned again. "They wouldn't understand it," he admitted. "You couldn't even understand it yourself."

Vaati joined him in the head-hanging. "Yeah. That's true." The two of them sat in silence for a while longer, looking grim and serious. Belari even paused and dropped his arms away from his work.

"Um…so we can just be friends!" Vaati cried. "We can do things with each other and play together all the time. So, um…can I help you make that volcano?"

Belari's face lifted and lit up again. "Sure! But you're going to have to follow my directions, okay? I don't want it to get messed up now."

"Don't worry!" Vaati affirmed, standing up and giving him a beaming smile. "I'll be really careful, I promise!"

"Okay!" Belari agreed and jumped up too. "Here's what I need you to do next…"

And so, for the next five or so minutes, Belari and Vaati got to work cutting up cardboard strips and gluing them into place around the glass container. They chatted a bit, mostly about the volcano and how it worked and what they would do with it once it was finished.

"We'll show it to everyone," Vaati suggested. "And they'll start laughing at us and everything. And then, we'll pull its trigger and watch it explode in their faces!"

"That's not very nice."

"Well, the things they say to us aren't very nice either."

"Well, that's true. I don't want to actually do that though. It would just make them angrier with us."

Vaati was about to suggest something else, but suddenly, a cheerful female voice interrupted him.

"Bell!" she cried. "What are you doing? Plotting to blow up the school again?" A small girl Cricriim minish bounced up to their table, a joking smile lingering on her face. She was dressed in the yellow standard Cricriim garb—a petal dress and flopping pom-pom topped cap. Her blonde hair fell down her back in a ponytail.

Belari rolled his eyes. "_Jotari_, you know I don't want to blow up the school. I'm working on my volcano, remember?"

The girl named Jotari didn't pay any attention, but she turned to the side to study Vaati. The boy shivered under her eyes. "Oh!" she cried. "The alien girl-boy! Good job, Bell!"

"He's not an alien," Belari coldly insisted. "I can…"

"Yeah, I know," the girl interrupted, smiling and pulling up a seat next to them. "You can scientifically prove it to me. Bell is going to be a scientist." She turned towards Vaati, that same smile on her face. "My name is Jotari, but you can call me Jo. Bell's an old neighbor of mine, so that's why we know each other. What's your name?"

"Vaati," he told her, despite Belari's protests of "Don't call me Bell" behind him. "It's because I don't have parents and no one knows where I came from."

"Cool," Jo commented. "Sorry about your parents, though. Can I call you Vaa?"

He frowned. "Um…I'd prefer if you didn't."

Belari laughed. "Jo has this terrible habit of wanting to nickname everyone. I really hate being called Bell."

"No you don't, Bell. You love it, Bell," Jo teased. "Just admit it, Bell."

"Aaaugh!" the boy scientist yelped. "Someone stop her!"

The girl giggled delightedly, then turned to the still nervous Vaati. "Hey, don't worry," she assured him. "I know what it's like to be an outcast. Bell here's a science geek, so he knows all about it too."

Belari hung his head. "Yeah, sure, that makes me feel a lot better."

The two friends broke into a light argument, joking and laughing at each other. Meanwhile, Vaati stepped back and got a look at the situation from an outside point of view. Here were two old friends, already together in a clique-like group. But they were outcasts. A clique of outcasts. That seemed like an oxymoron. Vaati had begun to associate any cliques with rejection and worthlessness in the eyes of others. At first, he'd been a bit disappointed. He'd thought Belari had no other friends, and he'd pictured himself as his first, only friend… However, Jo seemed friendly enough. She seemed normal. Apparently, she knew what it was like to be an outcast. She didn't look it.

"How come you're an outcast?" Vaati finally asked. "You look normal. Are you a science geek too?"

Jo turned back around and began to laugh at him. "Oh, no. I don't understand science at all. But just look at me!" The girl spread out her arms to stretch herself into his line of vision, completely obscuring poor Belari.

Vaati cocked his head and stared at her. "Um…I don't really see. You look completely normal to me."

"I'm wearing yellow!" Jo cried. "Look!"

Vaati just looked even more confused, his eyebrows knitting over his forehead. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"No one likes the color yellow," Jo insisted. "But I love it! It's my favorite color, and I wear it all the time. You should know if you're a Cricriim minish. Yellow Cricriim minish are very rare."

Vaati took a glance around the room. Sure enough, Jo was the only one wearing yellow, though he'd never noticed that before.

"I'm not pretending I have it as bad as you," she quickly added, after Vaati's expression began to lift. "I've seen other yellow Cricriim minish, but I've never seen any that look anything like you. You're completely unique. And I think that's cool."

A smile blossomed out of Vaati's current suspicious expression. "Really? Wow!"

"There's nothing wrong with being pale," Jo told him. "Or having red eyes. Or having long purple hair. Or deformed legs."

"Just like there's nothing wrong with wearing yellow," Vaati replied. "Or being a science geek." There was a moment of peaceful silence as the three mutual outcasts smiled at each other.

"So…" Jo finally spoke up. "How about that volcano?"

With three little minish working on it now, the model volcano was nearly complete by the end of the recess period. Belari went to tuck it back in his cubby and thanked the two of them for their help. Jo did this kind of stuff all the time, but Vaati was delighted. He had done it! He'd made a friend! Not one, but two! Two friends! He wanted to hug Jo, who was standing next to him. It was amazing! He couldn't wait to tell Ezlo when he got out of school today. No more running away and hiding shamefully in the rain. He could do it now. He could continue to go to school. Ezlo would be so proud!

Even though he hadn't yet succeeded in it, Vaati already felt like he was floating. He floated through the last twenty minutes or so that remained of school, and didn't even mind when the other minish took seats as far away from him as possible. He didn't even see the nasty note one of the clique leaders had passed to him. He was above this classroom. He was floating above the classroom, above the atmosphere, and far above the hurtful comments of his peers.

When the teacher at last dismissed them for the day, Vaati made sure he was near both Jo and Belari in line. "Can we play—I mean work—together tomorrow?" he asked Belari. "And eat lunch together and all that?"

"Of course," Belari replied, a smile lighting up his face and brightening his Shishiin accent.

"You're our friend now," Jo declared boldly, slapping him on the back from behind. "Whether you like it or not."

"Oh, I like it," Vaati replied, a gigantic smile popping onto his face. "I like it a lot."

It happened almost exactly as he had imagined. When Miss Tessi opened the doors at the bottom, sunlight streamed in and the outside world appeared again in a golden, miraculous beam. The children began to file out, and as soon as he was out the door, Vaati broke out of the line and barreled down the steps towards the front entrance lot.

Ezlo was standing just at the very entrance, blocking the other parents' views. He had to make sure this time—he'd been an hour early for release time and had stared fixedly at the school's entrance. Little Vaati couldn't escape him now, even if he tried. If the school wouldn't look out for his son, he sure would. Other parents obligingly stepped back to allow his first position. After all, who would deny the old magical sage? In fact, some other adults even seemed to be bowing in reverence to him. Ezlo had been expecting a slightly more positive reaction from Vaati that afternoon. It couldn't have been just as bad…and maybe he'd been given the courage to better deal with the teasing today. He'd been hopeful about the experience, but tried not to get too optimistic. But even he was shocked speechless when the little purple streak zoomed up to him and threw his arms around his waist.

For a moment, Ezlo could only blink and look down at the top of Vaati's little head as it pressed into his stomach. "Um…I take it you had a good day," he finally spoke up, smiling and bending to hug the boy back.

"It was great!" Vaati cried, turning a bright, excited face up towards him. "I made friends, Ezlo! Their names are Belari and Jo. They feel the same way as me! Belari really likes science, but the others tease him about it. Oh, and guess what? He's a Shishiin minish! You were right, they talk with funny accents, but it's really kind of cool. And Jo's a girl. She was Belari's neighbor, so they were already friends. She wears yellow all the time, which she says is a rare thing. Today we all helped Belari make this miniature volcano that's supposed to explode and erupt when he pressed its switch! It's not done yet, but it's going to be so cool when it is. We're going to work on it every recess! And Belari and Jo even said that I can sit with them at lunch and stuff! I really can't wait!"

Ezlo's eyes widened as he stared back down at the boy and pulled a bit away to get a good look at him. "Are you sure you're my kid?" he sarcastically asked. "My Vaati has never said so many words all at once like that."

Vaati giggled. "I'm just happy and excited. I knew you'd be proud of me. You are proud of me, right?"

"Of course," Ezlo replied, reaching back down to pet his hair. "Very proud. You're going to make it, Vaati. After all, you're going to make it. I'm so happy for you."

Vaati soaked up the praise and glowed with happiness as he pressed himself back into Ezlo's robe. For the next few minutes, they just remained in that position, completely absorbed in their own personal world. By the time Vaati looked up again, most of the other families were gone.

Ezlo looked up as well, and gently pulled away, with a smile. "I suppose we should be going now."

"Yeah," Vaati's smile finally drooped as he pulled back away from Ezlo. "I guess so." He actually seemed disappointed at the thought of going back home. Ezlo never thought he'd see the day.

He reached down, took Vaati's hand, and began to lead him out of the entrance clearing. "Tell you what," he declared. "When we get back to the workshop, I'll cook up a blueberry pie in celebration."

Vaati's eyes widened and his excited smile returned. "Really?! Blueberry pie?! I haven't had blueberry pie since my birthday!" He liked blueberries even better when they were cooked in a warm pie crust. Instead of a birthday cake, Ezlo always made him a "birthday pie" since he liked it much better. If Ezlo was making him a pie, it had to be a special occasion.

"Sure," Ezlo insisted. "It's your first day of school, isn't it? Certainly a momentous occasion in your life."

Vaati's face scrunched in thought. "But…but yesterday was my first day of school, not today."

Ezlo smiled. Just another little test of perception and mind trickery. "But we're just going to forget all about that, aren't we? It never happened."

After a moment, Vaati nodded in comprehension. "Right. Today was my first day of school. And I had a wonderful time."

Ezlo nodded. "You got that right."

And it was, indeed. It was a new beginning for little Vaati. He had friends. He had the power to stand up for himself…he'd just had to win it from others. Everything else—the disappointment, the shame….that could all be left behind. It was time for Vaati to enter the outside world, and finally, he was ready for it.

(-)

_Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump_… The world was whirling around him so fast; he couldn't even make out his surroundings. Everything was just a melting conglomeration of streaky, runny colors. Maybe he was inside one of his classmates' finger paintings. Why, then, was he moving so fast?

Cold blasts of air pushed back against his face, whipping his hair out behind him. It tugged strongly, as if attempting to rip the back of his head off. The power…the might. Vaati saw himself closing his eyes, droplets of tears peeping out from underneath them. They also flew immediately off his cheeks, forming into a thin stream behind his head. He couldn't feel what was wrong, but he knew something was. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

_Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump_… What was that noise? Vaati found himself wondering. Was it his heart? Was it his feet? That was right. His feet were moving. He could see them moving now, but couldn't feel them at all. They were flying across a green-streaked ground…little brown streaks of motion. _I'm running_, Vaati realized. _I must be running away from something. What am I running away from? _

Only the wind howled a response into his ears. He couldn't understand. It didn't make any sense to him. He couldn't hear the wind's message anymore. Was he losing his magic? Why? Was he just not concentrating hard enough? What was going on here?!

Just at that statement, Vaati began to notice it and realize what was happening. Ezlo had taught him about this the first time he'd taken him out to practice listening to the earth's voices. You had to completely empty your soul of all interfering emotions. Emotions were a good thing, Ezlo had explained; they helped you connect with others and lead a good, full life. But when listening to others, it was best to put your own feelings aside so that you could completely understand them. So it was with the spirits of the earth. If he couldn't hear them, his emotions must have been blocking them.

Well, he was sad; he knew that from the tears he'd seen stream off of his face—but what else? He didn't actually feel sad, or any kind of emotion except confusion. How come…? And yet he was running. He was running from something.

Vaati saw his own face for a second. He glanced back to check on the progress of his pursuer. While streaks of light purple slapped him across the face, he could see his eyes against the finger-paint backdrop. They were wide and bulging. An unusual, wild, panicked expression twisted his features. That was when he realized, at last. He was afraid. He was filled with fear and dread. There must be some type of monster chasing him! That had to be it!

As soon as he realized it, true panic and fear began to start up in him. The monster roared out of an unidentifiable green blob just behind. At first, it appeared to be only a silver streak—a streaming droplet of liquid silver in the distance. Vaati scampered with all his might away from it. He couldn't tell what it was, but whatever it was, it wanted to kill him! It wanted to harm him! In fact, he knew it for sure. If it got a hold of him, it would tear him to pieces.

_Thump-thump_..._thumpthumpthumpthumpthump_…

Vaati couldn't breathe. As soon as he opened his mouth to take in a breath, the air was snatched away from him. Now his whole head felt like it might be left behind. His feet were slamming against the oddly brownish ground. The shock rippled through his skin and even into his very muscles and bone. Something began to hurt in his side and on his face. He wanted to cry again.

The monster was making itself visible. It was a dragon, he decided. A great, evil dragon with an enormous, roaring mouth. Its silver scales glistened and rippled, even against the runny colors of the abstract landscape. It had a spiny back, its scaly backbone so pointy it could stab you straight through. Its body was long and slinky like a snake, and it undulated back and forth, gently slithering—and clawing—its way towards him.

Its mouth let out another terrible howl, quivering its way through Vaati's body and into his heart like an X-ray. He was going to die. It was going to get him. There was no way he could outrun those claws. He heard the pat-pat and the clamping scratching of the beast behind him. It was gaining on him. This was it. He imagined what it felt like to be punctured and ground to bits by searing sharp teeth…

"Why?!" he suddenly screamed, in a voice he couldn't even recognize as his own. He had no idea where the word came from, or even what he had been thinking. He just had to say it. "_Why_?!"


End file.
